Fewer Northampton benches in effort to curb loitering

Left, Dawud Lubieddin's things are laid out where a bench used to be on Main Street Northampton. Lubieddin talks with Abd Lomax of Northampton. Purchase photo reprints »

Chris Barcomb, of Easthampton, sits where a bench used to be in front of Hay Market Cafe on Main Street Northampton Tuesday afternoon. Purchase photo reprints »

This peacock-shaped bench opposite Skera Gallery invites passers-by Monday on Main Street in Northampton. Some of the downtown benches have been removed.JERREY ROBERTS Purchase photo reprints »

People occupy benches in Pulaski Park, left, and also those adjacent to the park Monday on Main Street in Northampton. Some of the downtown benches have been removed.JERREY ROBERTS Purchase photo reprints »

A group of people sit on the steps of City Hall last week in downtown Northampton. Six benches on Main Street were removed but those by City Hall are not among them.

This peacock-shaped bench opposite Skera Gallery invites passers-by Monday on Main Street in Northampton. Some of the downtown benches have been removed.JERREY ROBERTS Purchase photo reprints »

People occupy benches in Pulaski Park, left, and also those adjacent to the park Monday on Main Street in Northampton. Some of the downtown benches have been removed.JERREY ROBERTS Purchase photo reprints »

A group of people sit on the steps of City Hall Monday in downtown Northampton. The benches by City Hall are not among those removed recently.JERREY ROBERTS Purchase photo reprints »

NORTHAMPTON — Saying they are being used too much, the city removed six public benches on Main Street downtown for a trial period to see if their absence solves the problem of excessive loitering.

Mayor David J. Narkewicz said his office has received numerous complaints, particularly from the business community, that people occupy the benches for extended periods of time rather than for their planned, short-term use.

“The intended purpose of the benches is to add to the streetscape, but we have found that people have taken them over long-term,” Narkewicz said. “We’ve received a number of complaints, so we’re trying to take a look at this issue.”

In response, the city removed six of 16 public benches along some of the most congested areas of Main Street.

The benches removed include four on the south side of Main Street from Sweeties Fine Chocolate to Thornes Marketplace, and two on the north side of Main Street between Center and Masonic streets. At the request of the Department of Public Works, the downtown Business Improvement District removed the benches last Wednesday, moving them to spots near the downtown parking garage and in the area of the Round House parking lot.

Narkewicz said the trial will be evaluated over an undetermined period of time.

Ten benches remain on Main Street — in front of City Hall, at the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus stops in front of Pulaski Park and near Dunkin’ Donuts, and at the other end of Main Street in front of Fitzwilly’s and near the former Spoleto’s location at the corner of Main and Pleasant streets. The city did not include benches along Pleasant Street in its evaluation.

Narkewicz said there are a few private benches that will also remain in place, including the peacock bench in front of Skera Gallery and another on Crafts Avenue in front of Pizzeria Paradiso.

“We’re trying to maintain a certain number of benches downtown, but remove those that are creating problems,” Narkewicz said.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the decision is receiving mixed reviews.

Resident Kristin Racicot called the decision “stupid.”

She noticed the missing benches last weekend when she ventured downtown for a coffee and some “people-watching.”

Racicot said she is appalled that city officials would “punish the majority for minority complaints” about homeless people and panhandlers who use the benches.

Meanwhile, store managers along Main Street applauded the move. Some interviewed Tuesday said they appreciate that city leadership is trying to deal with a loitering issue they say interferes with their businesses.

Still, some interviewed also said they believe it’s unfortunate that the benches were removed, even if they see the need for such drastic action.

“It’s a shame, because Northampton is such a beautiful area,” said Andrew Fitzgerald, a manager at Synergy, a sportswear store on Main Street.

But even though it means tourists, shoppers and other pedestrians do not have access to as many benches while on the main commercial strip, he said, he is in favor of the decision.

“I think it’s a smart move,” he said.

Fitzgerald said “transients” who tend to gather around the benches have caused problems for his business. In addition to occasional thefts, his staff and customers have been verbally harassed by people gathered near the entrance to the store.

“We’ve had a lot of problems,” Fitzgerald said. “It creates a nasty environment.”

Fitzgerald said he wasn’t sure if discouraging loitering and panhandling was the city’s motivation for removing the benches, but welcomes that consequence.

Narkewicz said Monday he has met with officials from the BID and the Greater Northampton Area Chamber of Commerce in an effort to come up with a workable solution to the recurring problem.

Downtown ‘gauntlet’

Aggressive panhandling has been an issue for at least a decade and has gotten worse in recent years, said Bud Stockwell, who owns Cornucopia Foods downtown and is a member of the Chamber’s Downtown Business Committee. He and other business owners said customers don’t come downtown as often as they would like because they don’t want to “walk the gauntlet of people asking for money.”

“We realize that this is an issue that often stirs up emotions that all we’re trying to do is hide the poor,” Stockwell said. “That’s a very simplistic flash point where people get up in arms ... I think it’s a much more complex thing.”

Rather than hiding the poor, Stockwell said the business community is exploring a bevy of possible solutions that go beyond removing benches to include ways to offer additional support to social service agencies who work with the homeless and others in need.

He adds that the downtown business community is a “giving bunch” that donates money to a variety of agencies, and business leaders would like to come up with ways to educate the public about how to truly help people. Donating a dollar to a panhandler on Main Street might not be as effective as making a donation to ServiceNet or the Survival Center, he said.

Some ideas in the works include using old parking meters along Main Street as a donation spot for social service agencies, similar to the “Happy Frog” downtown. Another idea involves setting up a system in which people can use their cellphones to donate via text message.

“That way, people can still give and the money will more clearly be directed to an agency,” Stockwell said. “We’re hopeful we can make incremental progress of helping people and making downtown hospitable.”

People-watching

Terri Pajak, a manager at Faces department store on Main Street, said she understands the desire to clear up some of the congestion on the city’s sidewalks, but worries that removing the benches penalizes visitors to downtown.

“What’s unfair is now they’re not there for people who just want to people-watch,” she said. “Part of the thrill of coming to Northampton is great shopping and great people-watching.”

Still, Pajak said she, too, has seen the benches abused; for example, one person was using one as a shelter for about a month.

A flower box was constructed in front of Faces in an effort to discourage loitering in front of the store, Pajak said.

Yolanda Cruz, manager at Shop Therapy on Main Street, was disappointed with the decision to remove the benches.

“It’s a bad idea. The benches are for people to sit, relax, eat their lunch,” she said. “It’s so peaceful.”

Cruz said she’d rather see loitering and other sidewalk nuisances handled by police asking violators to move along rather than have the public benches removed.

Lucas Humann, manager of Sweeties Fine Chocolate and Confection, said he didn’t even notice the benches’ absence until Sunday, four days after they were gone.

He said he hasn’t heard many complaints from customers about loitering or panhandling, noting most people take it in stride.

“It’s a fact of living here,” Humann said. “People ask for change.”

A Northampton street musician who performs under the name “Downtown Daniel” said a lot of people have been upset about the removal of the benches.

“The elderly, the handicapped, there’s no place for them to sit,” Daniel said.

Daniel said he was given the impression that the city opted to move the benches to other areas like Pulaski Park rather than purchase new benches for those spots.

However, he said many who used the benches to sit on and keep their possessions under while they panhandle feel the removal of the benches is a deliberate attempt to minimize their presence downtown.

One of those homeless, a woman named Sarah, who declined to give her last name, is a regular presence on Main Street, usually in front of the Haymarket Cafe. She said she noticed the benches were all gone by May 13.

A few days before they were removed entirely, she said, the benches were flipped to face the road.

People apparently frustrated by the change flipped the bench in front of the Haymarket back around to face the sidewalk, Sarah said.

Sounding out shoppers

The chamber is also preparing a survey of city residents in an effort to measure what they love about downtown and what barriers prevent them from visiting shops in the center of town more often.

Stockwell said the survey is being crafted by the chamber, city officials and others in an effort to make it as unbiased as possible. He anticipates the two areas that will get the most discussion are parking and panhandling.

“We want to hear what people think,” Stockwell said.

Molly Feinstein, co-owner of the GoBerry yogurt shop on Main Street, said she wasn’t upset to see the benches gone.

She said more often than not, the benches attracted very negative behavior. People would occupy them for inordinate amounts of time, be visibly drunk while sitting on them or would sometimes be very aggressive toward customers in asking for money, she said.

Feinstein said the issue is complicated because removing the benches to cut down on loitering may wind up inconveniencing the very people the downtown area is hoping to attract.

She said that if the removal of the benches proves to be too disruptive to downtown, the decision can be easily reversed.

“We’re only talking about six benches here,” Feinstein said. “They can be put back.”

I'm in total sympathy with the business owners and the shoppers that are sick and tired of being accosted and harassed for money. Those benches weren't available to the elderly and handicapped, because the beggars staked them out to squat on. I stopped shopping on Main St. several years ago - it's such a circus, and so unpleasant when one is constantly besieged. I'm not a fan of the current mayor, but I do applaud this effort.

Bet Alwin wrote:

05/23/2013

Oh, Northampton, Massachusetts! Let me count the recent take-aways:
No more art movie theater - Pleasant Street Theater is gone.
No more Queer bookstore - Pride & Joy is gone.
No more outdoor adventure-wear store – Mountain Goat is gone.
No more gourmet French restaurant – Green Street Café is gone.
No more arts center – the Northampton Center for the Arts is gone.
No more funky women's clothing store – Ultra Gal is gone.
No more bakery – Bakery Normand is gone.
No more video rental store – Pleasant Street Video is gone.
No more benches – the people are gone!

Michael DiPasquale wrote:

05/23/2013

We need MORE benches downtown, not fewer.
Put the benches back, and come up with a better way to address the situation.

pduval46 wrote:

05/23/2013

This action is an insult to the elderly, the sick, the handicapped and everyone who enjoys being outdoors. The message is clear-spend money and beat it. No doubt the city "leaders" responsible would be startled to discover that many bench patrons are taxpayers and voters. Ironic to that Eva Trager, celebrated as a business visionary on a monument, kept a bench outside her store for years. And the arbitrary nature of the policy certainly gives pause to the idea of a "sustainable" future in hamp. Of course, we could direct our spending elsewhere. THAT would get their attention.

Bet Alwin wrote:

05/22/2013

Next, will we all be required to wear pearls or tuxedos and top hats to sashay down Main Street?

Bet Alwin wrote:

05/22/2013

It will be more of a problem with people sitting on the sidewalk where the benches were. Good luck with this "trial," Mr. Mayor.

Bet Alwin wrote:

05/22/2013

Removing the benches will not remove poverty. Why doesn't the mayor form a task force to address that? Or is this city government of the wealthy, by the wealthy, and for the wealthy?

massmisa wrote:

05/22/2013

Send the benches here to the Green and West Street neighborhood. We're sorely in need of (affordable) replacement housing.

wmassbill wrote:

05/22/2013

If every one of those people begging for money invested in a broom or a snow shovel and asked each business owner for a couple dollars to keep the sidewalks clean they'd be rich. But it is easier for them to sit on their butts and be useless, no, they're worse than useless. They harass, criticize and obstruct people who would otherwise like to spend their time and money enjoying downtown. And don't give me the line that they are disabled,,,laziness is a choice, not a disability.
Seems like there's no shortage of police when there is a construction site to monitor but there is hardly ever one around when there are crowds of teenagers or beggars blocking the sidewalk.
Good riddance to the benches.

Yossarian wrote:

05/22/2013

That thousand word picture of the guy sitting on the sidewalk where the bench used to be shows exactly how effective this alleged solution is going to be. Kristin Racicot's assessment of the decision is spot on.

mlrjis wrote:

05/22/2013

I don't get it. Benches are a friendly idea so that people can spend time downtown. Were the benches needed elsewhere so an arbitrary decision was made?? Well, at least there is consistency of how these decisions are made!!

BroDanJim wrote:

05/22/2013

Once again the ABSENCE of a POLICE presence on Main Street would have averted this problem !!

online_reader wrote:

05/22/2013

Perhaps Northampton should orchestrate a new system. But this one would be to organize ready shoppers into orderly lines for the purchasing of high-end boutique items from one of the local overpriced shops, since that seems to be the only thing that truly matters. They could then install a series of velvet ropes outside each business, where someone (of an appropriate appearance, clipboard in hand) -- can review your current W-2 to see if you are legitimate enough to get in line. The ropes (and the clipboard-person, with the proper training, of course) would protect the delicate shoppers from panicking as they are approached by those unseemly types from the "real" world, those drifting aimlessly by on the other side of the ropes. You know, the ones who don't count.

IsobelAnais wrote:

05/22/2013

Get rid of benches because people are using them? Maybe we should get rid of Main Street altogether. It seems like the road is being used too much. There are too many dangerous and disruptive cars on it. Tear it all up!
Most of the panhandlers don't bother anyone. They sit to the side and don't even say anything. If passers-by are bothered, it's their own guilt.
The worst are the clipboard jockeys. They're the ones who actually get in the way.

etr wrote:

05/22/2013

Funny, there are just as many panhandlers and loiterers in downtown Greenfield yet I spend more time and money there and in Easthampton than I do in Northampton these days. Northampton just isn't very convenient for families. And apart from ordering take-out and buying the occasional high-end gift, it doesn't offer much that I need anymore--at least in the core of the downtown. Given the nature of the remaining shops and the composition of the crowds, Northampton increasingly has the feel of a regional tourist destination with a few (albeit important) remnants of a community center.

mkask wrote:

05/22/2013

Turn the corner onto Gothic Street and you will discover that there are a dozen (or more) new benches alongside the new parking garage. I was wondering about these... Expensive and unlikely to be used. But there they are.

Bet Alwin wrote:

05/22/2013

Flashy new headquarters, tons of police cars, huge new parking facility - but not for public use!?